‘St. Denis Medical’ Boss Previews Season 3: Joyce & Ron, Damon Wayans’ Character & More

Are you feeling a bit feverish, St. Denis Medical fans? Because after a sophomore season that saw smitten ER nurses Matt (Mekki Leeper) and Serena (Kahyun Kim) finally get together and grumpy physician Dr. Ron (David Alan Grier) wake up from heart surgery asking for hospital CEO Joyce (Wendi McClendon-Covey) as “my Joyce,” showrunner Eric Ledgin knew “we had to come in hot” for Season 3. “Ron coming back from surgery, Matt and Serena, there’s a lot going on…. We’ve got a lot of questions to answer.”

Like Ron’s seemingly romantic summons? “To me, it was something that just felt right,” says Ledgin. “Joyce and Ron have been working together a long time and it’s almost impossible not to have some degree of [subtext] to the relationship, even if that thing is just that there is no thing…It’s not a major part of this season, but it is something that we continue to play with.”

He adds, “I’m not trying to be coy, I just don’t want to give too much away.”

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He’s a bit more open about other arcs, including the new romance on the floor. “It looks pretty good on them,” Ledgin offers of Matt and Serena’s coupledom. “I don’t think we’re doing anything overly cute in terms of messing with the audience. We had a little stutter step at the end of Season 1 and then it was kind of set that yeah, they’re going to try this. They’re going to date. And so we really wanted to just embrace that and start Episode 1 with, ‘What does that relationship look like and what’s the first complication in it?’ And that’s sort of what we play out in that first episode, and then it goes from there.”

Another romantic situation that could see some forward movement is the one we got a small taste of when Love Island host and Vanderpump Rules SUR-vivor Ariana Madix guested as cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Brooke Emerson, the former girlfriend of vain surgeon Bruce (Josh Lawson). Despite their ex status, the two definitely shared sparks during Madix’s handful of appearances, and according to Ledin, more are on the way starting in the season’s second episode. “Ariana is coming back. She’s lovely and Brooke left on a fairly positive note with Bruce. So we’ll get to see some interesting happenings between the two of them. In fact, that’s some of my favorite stuff that we’ve shot so far this season.”

“It’s small in its scope, but it’s between the two of them and it involves Matt and it’s really, really funny,” he teases. “It’s just so fun to see how someone like Bruce can self-sabotage or make things more complicated than they need to be, and Ariana is just such a good partner for that.”

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And finally, on the matter of partners, Ledgin is thrilled to be reuniting Grier with his In Living Color pal Damon Wayans, who pops in for the premiere as Dr. Highland, Ron’s lively replacement while he recovers from surgery. “I try as much as possible to play to the reality of the world,” Ledgin explains of the need for a New Ron. “As easy as it was to say, ‘Oh, he’s getting bypass surgery,’ when you really look at what that means, it’s not really the easiest recovery. So the first episode, he’s been temporarily replaced [by Damon].”

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'St. Denis Medical' Season 3 to Feature 'In Living Color' Reunion With Damon Wayans

And he couldn’t have found a more different fill-in. Whereas Ron is a lovable curmudgeon, Wayans’ Dr. Highland is simply lovable. “He’s just a big personality that if you’re on board, you’re really on board,” Ledgin continues, adding that new guy instantly wins over the staff…except for charge nurse Alex (Allison Tolman). “[She] even says that it feels all a little bit performative, like ‘Maybe he thinks he’s on some medical show’ or something.”

A couple CCs of meta-humor always hit the spot.

St. Denis Medical, Season 2 Premiere, Monday, November 2, 8/7c, NBC